31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40 "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' 44 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45 "He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' 46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Matthew 25:31-46
Prayer
Father of love! Please allow us to reflect upon Jesus' three-year course of public life when he was chased from this village to that. We must feel again that Jesus who came with the heavenly heart shed limitless tears of sorrow with an earnest heart, yet the contrary Israelite people denied him with arrows and conjured up all kinds of conspiracies. There were many times when we blamed the believers of Judaism, the Pharisees and the Jewish people, in the past for their mistakes. We judged them rashly. However, please let us feel that if we were born 2,000 years ago at the time of Jesus' birth, we would have opposed Jesus and handed him over to Pilate. Let us believe that we are even worse than they.
Please let us understand that the wheel of history is continuing to turn while the universe is changing. The time of the dispensation is turning around, but the new history of restoration has failed to turn around the crisis that it must overcome. Therefore, lamentation, spite and bitterness still remain on this earth.
Please let us realize that when human beings stand in the position of betrayal, heavenly laws can be destroyed and the works of heaven can be undermined. Therefore, please guide the sons and daughters who are here, even if they are to die many thousands of times, to forsake everything they have and accomplish the will of God from the position of sacrifice.
Father! We hope with earnestness that You will allow us to understand that God mourns when we cannot rectify what belongs to Heaven as Heaven's own. Allow us now to rectify what belongs to Heaven as Heaven's own and offer even our own things as Heaven's possessions.
Please bind the minds of the sons and daughters here as one. Let there not be any gap between the receiver and the giver. Please allow our minds to become one with Yours so that we can bear fruit before the will of the Father's desire and become subjects of harmony. Please allow them to be in harmony before the Father's grace.
We know that our original nature and character must eternally adore the Father, so please do not let the intellectual mind and the sacrifices that we have made prevent our minds from adoring You. Please let us realize how we are infinitesimally small.
Please allow us to lie prostrate before the majestic Father. Allow us to report our inadequacy directly and adore Your loving hands with innocent hearts.
We have entrusted this hour only to You, so please guide us. Wishing sincerely that You will appear with the same grace before all the members who are scattered everywhere, we prayed all these words in the name of the Lord. Amen.
God's and Jesus' Hope for Humanity
The title of what I wish to speak about is "Let Us Become People Who Participate in the Glory of the Lord."
You know very well that fallen humanity is longing for the dawning of the glorious day that is their hope and ideal. You have to understand that God also has been toiling for the long 6,000-year time span to find this one day. Jesus and the Holy Spirit also have been exerting themselves to repeat the battles for a time span of 2,000 long years. Furthermore, the countless believers who are worshipping heaven have also been crossing the ridge of infinite sacrifice to find this one day.
This ridge must be crossed over, even if we die hundreds and thousands of times in the process. We must feel to our bones that to cross over this ridge, human beings were not the only ones who were mobilized. Many religious groups and many founders of religions in the spirit world, even the Holy Trinity, have been mobilized for this effort.
To manifest that one day, God has been enduring for 6,000 years. Human beings have persevered through many sufferings and adverse situations to find the new hope, the new guiding ideology.
Because God created the world with a purpose, the created things must unite with that will of God. Therefore, if we humans who must realize the will of God cannot establish the one day that heaven and earth can rejoice over, then all the work of God and human beings up to now will have no meaning.
Jesus Christ was the person who came to the earth to newly introduce this day of hope to God and human beings. We human beings do not have any power or resource that can enable us to accomplish the will that God plans to fulfill. Therefore, we are following Jesus Christ, who came as the mediator, to attain that kind of power and resource.
What did Jesus desire after he came to the earth? It was to establish through his life the one day of hope that humanity seeks, establishing heavenly principles and human ethics on this earth and to spread the gospel of God to humanity. However, because of the betrayal of the Jewish people at that time, Jesus left without having laid the victorious foundation for the fulfillment of the will before God, human beings or before all things.
The Israelite people were living in the time and environment in which they could attend Jesus as the Lord of the highest glory, the master of all peoples. They could have taken pride in that. Although they were blessed with heavenly grace, because they could not cope with that grace, the victorious foundation that God planned to lay could not be secured on earth.
As a result, during his work in the 2,000 long years since the ordeal of the cross until today, what Jesus wanted was to return to this earth and fulfill the will that he had offered some thirty-odd years of his life to fulfill. He wanted to establish the one day of the glory of God, the glory of himself and the Holy Spirit, and the glory of all people.
For the human beings then who have the fate to usher in this day and pass through the end of history, the problem is with what attitude they will meet the day of glory that will emerge universally in the last days. This is the day of new glory that God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and humanity all want.
The Attitude of Faith Which Can Greet the Day of Glory
Because the Israelite people of the past did not complete the mission that God bestowed upon them, Jesus had to follow the footsteps of sorrow to come seeking humanity again. Yet at this time, if there are people who repeat the precedent that the Israelites set, then they will be blocking the coming of the glory of heaven, blocking the one day for which Jesus hopes. They will be blocking the one day for which humanity longs.
Why then did the Israelite people and the believers of Judaism who met Jesus fail to joyfully usher in the one day of glory that could have accomplished the purpose they had been longing for during the 4,000 years? Why did they fail to serve Jesus as the leader of the people and fail to establish the one day of glory before all people? You have to understand that this is the crime they have committed before God.
When Jesus was alive, if the Jewish people had built the national territory on this earth centering on God and if they had built the kingdom wherein the ideals of Heaven could be realized, then today we would not have inherited the hope of the Israelites in waiting for the Lord as our hope.
Because the Israelite people could not serve Jesus as the embodiment of hope and could not attend him as the historical master, the will of God was completely discontinued. The Israelite people and the Jewish sects let Jesus die on the cross by violating the will of heaven on the level of society and the chosen religion.
Because there was none on earth who welcomed Jesus on the individual level, not to mention on the level of society and the chosen religion, God, who had sent Jesus with hopes that he would be welcomed, felt tormented. Therefore, you must understand that this grief remained as the sorrow of the people, the sorrow of the religious group, and the sorrow of each individual.
How then should we who believe in Jesus conduct our faith today? We must take responsibility for the sins committed by the Israelite people, the Jewish sects and each individual. On the level of the individual, the religious sects, the people and the world we must cleanse them. We face this kind of fate. Our ancestors have been cleansing sins throughout history.
The history of humanity which should have become the history of joy became the history of sorrow, as you can see. Because the Israelite people walked that path of betrayal, the Christians who have followed Jesus had to pay indemnity for it. You who have the mission of the spiritual Israel on behalf of humanity must also travel this road of indemnity. You have to pass through the lonely road, the road of the cross, the road of death. This was the reason why, when Christianity tried to spread its doctrines and establish the Christian faith in a place where the people believed in another religion, without fail, they had to build an altar of blood. Simply put, the history of Christianity is a history of martyrdom. It traveled a course of hardships and persecution. This path of martyrdom began from the individual and expanded to the family, society and the world.
You must never forget that among your ancestors have been many prophets and sages who walked the road that is in line with the will of God without abandoning the will of God and the hope even while they were traveling through this path of conflict for Christianity. They did not abandon the will of God even while falling down this way and that, even while being crushed and tangled.
Originally the Israelite people were to serve Jesus. This was not because the Jewish people were extraordinary or because of the efforts of the Jewish religion. It was because there were many prophets and sages who, representing the people in the 4,000-year course of history, had demonstrated concern for God and remained faithful to His will. Nonetheless, the Israelite people and the Jewish religion at that time forgot this and could not establish the will of God. As a result, the bitter grudge of Jesus saturated the earth.
What is the position, then, of we who believe in the Lord? We must pass through the road of adversities and clear the bitterness on the world level to usher in the one day of glory. We stand in the position representing the Israelite people and the religion of Judaism, which were chosen to receive the Lord 2,000 years ago. We represent the spiritual Israel on the world level. You must keep this in mind.
Jesus' Elite Troops Who Inherited the Tradition of the Dispensation
Now we must become the elite troops of Jesus who can fight with the opposing people and the opposing sects to cleanse the bitterness caused by the failures at that time of the Israelite people and the Jewish religion. If the Israelite people had understood Jesus Christ, who was trying to establish the will of God and confront Caesar's faction, which had conspired to send him to the cross, what would have happened? If they had endured through the national conflict and obstructed the conspiracy, then at that time the will of God would have been realized. God has been fighting and persevering through difficulties while hoping that some people who represent the world can set the base of victory on the level of a people like this.
Yet why did God and the Holy Spirit have to fight? Weren't they the Jesus of peace, the Holy Spirit of peace and the Father of peace? They had to fight to protect humankind from the legions of satans who have been expanding the powers of evil on earth for 6,000 years. They had to fight to bring an end to the history of evil. You have to understand this painful situation of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
To whom then do the terms "God of mercy, God of love" apply? They do not apply to Satan. They apply to the sons and daughters who are within the realm of heaven. God loves man and not sin. You have to understand this clearly. Where there is Satan, God's ideals cannot be revered. Heaven cannot dwell there.
Jesus Christ who appeared before the Israelite people did not hold grudges against anyone, even when he was dying on the cross. The reason is that he knew that, even after he died, the door to the salvation of the world would open up.
Because Jesus suffered immeasurable agony, he could have been bitter towards the Israelite people. However, what Jesus felt from the people who opposed him was the toil of God, who had led the dispensation for 4,000 long years. Jesus felt the altars of blood that the countless prophets and sages had built to usher in the one day that the will of God could be realized. Therefore, he did not hold any grudge against them.
When Jesus was passing away on the cross, he could have appealed to heaven for the judgment of the Israelite people who had put him to the cross. Reflecting back on the history of the dispensation during which God had greatly exerted Himself, seeing how God forgave even the people who opposed those whom He had sent, Jesus had the magnanimity to forgive them. Even though there might have been times in history when people who opposed God avoided judgment and rejoiced, the reason that God did not judge them was not because they themselves were valuable, but because He was able to generate magnanimity by looking at the prophets who had forgiven them, just as Jesus forgave them representing history and the dispensation with the heart of sorrow on behalf of Heaven.
To receive the glory of the Lord, what kind of position must we then stand in? We must be able to link with the situation of Jesus. Tracing the footsteps of God, who raised Jesus and worked strenuously for 6,000 years, we must be able to stand before Heaven. Moreover, we should be able to say, "Although this earth might be a land of sins, looking at the bloody footsteps of Your hard labor of 6,000 years, heaven, please withdraw the whip of judgment." When you stand in such a position, you will be able to establish the ideology of the people, the ideology on the world level.
You must realize that people cannot exist alone. No matter in what form or content, they have to live making relationships with other people. Regardless of what society or nation to which they belong, the actions of the individuals who belong to that society or nation will have impact on the whole. Good actions have good impact and evil actions have evil impact. Therefore, you today must go beyond the desire to live centering on yourself and have the mind-set to live while materializing the ideal world of God and the ideals of the spiritual Israel. You must actually live it.
You must never forget the tradition of God, who until now has been longing for the one day of hope, who has been exerting Himself and battling. Moreover, you must learn to set the tradition of the dispensation, the historical tradition and the tradition of the tribe. If the Israelite people had achieved this task, then at that time, great transformations would have taken place in all the cities and villages of Israel through the names "Jesus" and "Messiah."
The Reason that Jesus and the Prophets Were Betrayed
When Jesus was born in the stable at Bethlehem, the three wise men were not believers in Judaism, but fortune tellers of that time. Yet when they came to Jerusalem and inquired, "Where is the king of the Jews who is just born?" all the people in Jerusalem were thrown into great tumult. When we contemplate this fact, we find that the Israelite people longed for a Messiah only in words. They did not think about the question of when and where they might meet the Messiah.
We today can also easily make this mistake. It is difficult to readily accept and not betray the person who is sent by God or the heavenly principles, no matter where they might appear.
The Israelite people were able to criticize all the facts and historical events that emerged in practical reality by looking at the surface, but they did not understand the content. In other words, they knew how to see but they did not know how to taste. Today you must not conduct the same kind of life of faith. It is also not right just to believe in Jesus and not understand his heart. You know how to put Jesus on a high pedestal, but you are ignorant of the fact that he shouldered the will of God in a miserable position.
Now we must never repeat the mistakes that the Israelites committed in the past. When we greet the day of glory again in the place of the Israelite people who lost Jesus, we must think about what differences we have with the Israelite people as we greet that day.
When we examine the course of Jesus, who was centered on the will of God, many people followed him, including the disciples. We can see that there were people who followed him when they were happy. There were others who followed him when they were sad. There were people who followed him at the time of the new beginning. Among them, those who welcomed Jesus when they were happy were particularly large in number. When he fed the crowd of 5,000 with five bottles of wine and two pieces of fish, when he was introducing historically new facts and moving the hearts of the people, they supported him and followed him.
Nonetheless, why was it that the people who shared every experience with him for a long period and followed him could not penetrate through the surrounding environment during the progressive course of history and fell down on the way? You have to understand that this was the repetition of the past historical course when the Israelite people betrayed Moses as they were heading toward the land of Canaan.
When Moses led the Israelite people to the land of Canaan, his will and the standard were different from the will and standard of the people. Moses, who was trying to establish the will of God, had a clear purpose toward which he was heading. Because he had a clear sense of direction, he was thinking about the road of survival by forecasting into one year or ten years later. He was trying to put that into action to reach his purpose. By contrast, the Israelite people could not do the same. Consequently, the Israelite people fell away from Moses.
Although originally the Israelite people were permitted to pass through the 400-year history after Abraham to greet the one day of glory, they fell down in the wilderness without being able to greet that day. In the same way, when Jesus came, he had a clear sense of purpose and direction, and looking at ten or twenty years in the future, he was trying to create the environment in the living sphere of human beings in which he could fulfill the will of God. Yet the Israelite people could not live up to his expectations.
Because the direction and purpose they pursued were different from those of Jesus, because their lives were different from the will of the dispensation that was headed toward eternity, although they might have welcomed Jesus when they were glad, they did not hesitate to neglect Jesus when the situation turned adverse. In other words, they had set a conditional purpose and lived based on a conditional direction.
The Israelite people, who raised a banner of opposition before Jesus, mocked Jesus who was hanging on the cross and pushed him along the path of death. They were repeating the act of disbelief committed when they had betrayed Moses and made the golden calf to worship. In the same way that Moses had to wander in the wilderness for forty years, even as he was looking at the footsteps of the land of Canaan where he could have lived in splendor, Jesus also had to wander for 2,000 years while looking at the ideal of the blessed land of Canaan on the world level. You have to understand that Jesus has been feeling this kind of bitter grief.
Why then did the Israelite people not believe in Jesus? It was because they did not know Jesus was the representative of God. They did not know that he had come to fulfill the purpose of the dispensation of God. They did not know that he was the one who would guide them to the straight path to heaven. They did not know that Jesus was not just an individual, but a representative of the world and the people and that he was responsible for their eternal lives.
If the Israelite people had known that Jesus came to save their lives, then even at the cost of their lives, they should have followed him. If they knew that he came for the sake of the people, then even if it required forsaking the people, they should have followed him. If they knew he came for the sake of the religion and the world, then they should have followed him even if they had to abandon their religion and the world. Yet because the Israelite people did not know Jesus' value and betrayed him, they traveled through the road of indemnity for a long time after that.
The Value of the Sacrifice Made for the Sake of the Whole
It is heavenly principle that what is sown will be reaped. Therefore, there will come a day when what was sown at the beginning of Christian history will be reaped in the same manner. Similarly, you must heed the day that everything sown in Christian history is harvested.
Now you must not stand in the same position as the Israelite people who betrayed Jesus. The direction and purpose of the faith you are pursuing and the various environments of your life must be according to the will of God, who has been guiding the dispensation for 6,000 years. They have to agree with the direction in which Jesus and the Holy Spirit are urging you. The problem is whether you can become one with this. The problem is not whether Jesus comes. The problem rests with you who are making the preparations to receive him.
Do you desire to receive the blessing in your life of faith? You have to understand that blessing comes only after you have completed walking your course to the end and have completed the battle you must fight. Therefore, just as Jesus passed through the road of crucifixion to become resurrected, you also can greet the one day of hope, resurrection and joy only after you have passed through a difficult path of hardships. Jesus said, "Those who are trying to gain their life will lose it, and those who are trying to lose their life will gain it" (Luke 17:33).
In the past, when the Israelite people violated their pledge with God and worshipped Baal, Elijah went before Jehovah. Pleading with God to take his life, Elijah cried out, "I am the only one who is left." Yet at that time Jehovah said that He had kept 7,000 people who had not submitted to Baal.
Similarly, the religious world today is shaking at its core and is in great confusion, which has deprived them of a sense of direction. You who are living in this time must be able to connect with the heart of Elijah, who clung to the people and appealed to Jehovah. You must also be connected to the heart of Moses. When the Israelite people did not have any food to eat in the wilderness and were wandering in the wilderness for forty years without direction, Moses went up Mount Sinai and appealed to Jehovah for forty days of fasting.
Moses did not pray for his own glory. Moses knew better than anyone else that God had sent him to the earth, not for his own sake, but for the sake of the people and the world. We who are moving forward while looking at the world-level blessed land of Canaan must also realize that we are the chosen Israelite people who must inherit this heart of Moses. We must march forward.
You who have heard these words today, please critically evaluate your own life of faith from the position of a third person. Was there any day when you mourned for the sake of the people as Jesus did? Have you ever prayed like Jesus? Have you ever built an altar of tears for the sake of the people as Moses did? He prayed for forty nights and days and soaked his knees with tears without anyone knowing about it while the chosen people freely slept and played.
The reason that various forms of culture have formed centered upon Christianity today is not because of the merit of the people of the present era. It is because many believers risked their lives and traveled lonely and perilous uphill roads. They overcame loneliness and fought with sin, even in such lonesome places as huts and caves. It is because such as they have continuously prayed in tears to God.
The Time When We Have To March Forward in Search of a New Path of Faith
Now humanity has come to the time when they must march forward toward a new goal. Therefore, human beings must look for a new goal.
You must not try be in a comfortable position only promoting your own interests or abuse your faith as did the Israelite people and their leaders, the chief priests, of the past. Now is the same kind of difficult time as when Jesus went up to the garden of Gethsemane and offered a decisive prayer to God while the path of crucifixion lay before him. Moreover, just as Moses climbed Mount Sinai on behalf of the 600,000 Israelites and prayed earnestly for forty days and nights with his life on the line, this is the time we must pray for the sake of the people and the world. Moreover, in the last days, there must emerge many sons and daughters of God who can manage this kind of mission. If such people can really be found, then the twelve tribes and seventy elders during Moses' time and the twelve disciples of Jesus cannot even compare to them.
If the Israelite people had actually forgotten their own situations and supported Moses, who was fasting and praying for forty days and nights on Mount Sinai and had entreated God with him, then they would not have suffered through the forty bitter years of wandering in the wilderness. Moreover, if there was a disciple who beheld Jesus and fell on his knees to pray together in tears with the same heart, then the 2,000 years of ordeals would not have come into being. However, our ancestors could not fulfill these tasks. Still, we must be able to forgive these historical mistakes of the ancestors and bring to a conclusion the grief of the world. We must restore the garden of joy that God seeks. To do that, you must search the right path that will lead you to the destination in the homeland.
When Moses climbed Mount Sinai, he did not tell the Israelite people, "I am going to pray for you." Moreover, when Jesus was offering a deep prayer in lonely solitude, he did not tell anyone about it. He did not even tell his three disciples, Peter, John and James. Now is also that kind of time.
The reason is that there is the condition set by the ancestors of humankind who betrayed God by secretly falling. Therefore, we descendants have the dispensational fate to set the condition God can recognize. Such a thing has taken place frequently during history. Moreover, you must understand that, in the last days, when we must cross over the one door while gazing at the day of glory, such things will take place.
Although Jesus spoke on behalf of the people, the world and God from a position of transcending himself, all the apostles who were following Jesus thought the words Jesus spoke were meant only for them. When Jesus did something good, they thought it was only for their sake. When Jesus entered a lowly position, they thought that he did it for their sake. Because they had this kind of faith, God could not fundamentally approve of them. You have to understand that there they began to split away from God.
In this moment then when we are in the last days, what position should you who must seek for the day of glory stand in? More than anything else, you must be able to connect to the heart of Jesus. Each of you must create this kind of environment for your individual lives. Furthermore, you must make this environmental foundation that can act in for the world and the whole universe. If you make this kind of environment, then this will come together and form the environment of life for Israel on the world level.
You who have participated here today! At present what is your purpose in believing and following God? You should ask yourself this question in this hour today. Do you perhaps have the desire to use God to raise yourself up and seek only your own happiness? You must not do that. You must transcend yourself and put the purpose of faith in God.
Jesus possessed a heart of concern for God, even when he was happy. On the contrary, for the crowds that followed him, the more their joy was magnified, the more they welcomed Jesus with the desire to accomplish their own purposes and desires on earth. Jesus was the only person who sincerely worried about God. The future of Christianity today will be blocked if it stands in that position. Moreover, if there is a religion that conducts its life of faith in this manner, then the same thing will happen to it.
What then is the path Jesus walked? As I have just said, Jesus forsook himself. Even when he was happy, he did not take that as his own happiness, but tried to channel all of it to God.
Therefore, now you must be happy when Jesus is happy. You are not to be happy centering on yourself, but centering on God and Jesus. Moreover, you are not to set as your purpose that which will unite with your desires, but set as your purpose that which unites only with God. Otherwise, we will be separated from Jesus. We will be divided in the same way that Moses and the Israelite people were divided and the way the Israelites were divided from Joshua and Caleb. Moreover, as was written in the Bible verses recited today, we will be divided into the sheep and goats.
The Standard of Life
The place where Cain and Abel separated in the beginning was not two, but one. They were not divided from the world, but from one individual. At the time of the ultimate judgment, the judgment is not to take place in heaven, but centering on humans on earth. Good and evil will divide. You yourselves will also feel that your minds are dividing into two. In other words, you will feel the division between the mind that is trying to establish the heavenly principles and the mind that is trying to accomplish humanistic purposes. When we look at this, we can learn that our minds are at the point of the division of good and evil.
Ladies and gentlemen who are present here! We have come forward already determined to penetrate through any kind of adversity to head toward the one hope. Therefore, now when we feel joy in our hearts, we must link that with the people and with God. If we experience hopeful events, then it must not end up as just our own hope. We must connect that hope with the people and the world.
If we are glad when Jesus is happy and we comfort Jesus when he is feeling agony, then Jesus will be with us. Moreover, when we do that, we will be able to relate with God. You must understand that only when you become this kind of person, can the Holy Father, the Holy Son and the Holy Spirit consider you with compassion. Only when the Holy Father, the Holy Son and the Holy Spirit treat you with compassion will the work of resurrection take place.
The reason Jesus could resurrect was that Jesus was able to throw away his own life for the fulfillment of God's will. His abandonment of his own life for the sake of the will reached the level where he could receive God's hands of resurrection. If you cannot set one standard that can stimulate you more powerfully than any other standard set by people in history, then even if you have been following the will from the beginning, you will fall away soon. If you fall away, what will happen to you? How can anyone guarantee that you will not become the same sort of people who rebelled against Jesus and spearheaded the attempt to kill him?
You who are present in this place: if you now understand that your goal is to establish the heavenly principles, live for the sake of heaven and earth and establish human ethics, then even if some adverse condition blocks your path, even if someone denies you, you should have a conviction strong enough to defeat them.
The members of the Unification Church can become the friends of Jesus only if they are able to head toward this direction from the beginning. How were the apostles, who had the mission to guide the crowds that followed Jesus on his behalf? They could not have the same heart as Jesus.
As the number of the multitude following Jesus increased, they took that as the enlargement of the scope of their own glory. Thus, they tried to order the people around. Therefore, as the days passed and as the number of the people who were following for their own benefit increased among the crowd, Jesus had more cause for worry. The more he found himself in such a situation, the more he found he did not have anyone with whom he could share his heart openly.
Although these actions of theirs became unsurpassable sorrow, in contrast, for Satan they became conditions of delight. Simply put, they could not fundamentally cause the words that divide good and evil, the works of judgment. You must never repeat this.
The problem is not the number of the people who believe. At this time when we have arrived before the final verdict on the world level, there must appear true people who can represent humanity and the people in rejoicing and say, "Hallelujah, amen," even if they are in a difficult and lonely place. This is the problem. Only a person with this kind of faith can manifest the glory of God and become the embodiment of resurrection.
The True Person God Needs
The road for the sake of the will cannot be traveled when you are trying to attain heaven's glory or value of life for yourself. Criticizing, centering on oneself, and bringing harm to other people for one's own benefit are the actions that brought about the fall.
At this time, then, when we are looking at the glory of the last days, what position are you in? Right now God has an unspeakably sorrowful heart and is overwhelmed by lamentation and melancholy. Do you perhaps try to be in a comfortable position and enjoy yourself in contrast to how God is? If there are such persons today, then eventually they will be in the same position as the Israelites who betrayed Moses or the multitudes who betrayed Jesus. You have to clearly understand this fact.
Even if someone is living for the sake of the fulfillment of the will of God, if he does things for his own happiness, then at the point of division of the last days when the sheep are divided from the goats, they will be put on the side of the goats.
What kind of person then can participate in the position of glory? That person must be one who has become one in heart with Jesus. If 2,000 years ago, there had been believers who shared in Jesus' sorrow and joy, then Jesus would have been delighted and would have manifested all the will of heaven before them. Eternal glory would have been given to them. However, Jesus felt desolate and sad because, although his followers were on the rise, he could not share his heart with anyone because there was no one who could remain faithful to him and inherit everything from him. The people who were following him did not understand his feelings. In the last days, there will be people who will lead the same kind of life of faith.
Even if a person believes in God and follows Him, if he neglects God's concerns and only seeks his own comfort and pleasure, then he is not someone God needs. There is a greater need for the one person who is helpful to God than 6,000 or 7,000 people of that kind. When Jesus was fighting with evil and made his appeal for the realization of the will with the same sad heart of God in the Garden of Gethsemane, humankind should have appealed with a heart three times more aching than that of Jesus. Peter, John and James did not even try to feel one-third of that sorrow. You who are present here must never become that kind of person.
If Jesus toils over one thing, then you should work more than three times as hard. If someone who represents heaven exerts himself, then you must exert yourself more than three times as much. If someone who represents heaven agonizes over one thing and suffers one hardship, then you must feel the anguish and concern more than three times and experience the hardships more than three times. Because the followers of Jesus did not try to extend themselves even one-third of the exertion of Jesus, they brought doom to the people, sold off the only begotten son and betrayed God.
You who are present here today, do you really want to follow the Unification Church? When this Rev. Moon who leads the Unification Church feels some anguish, you must feel more than three times the anguish and become the encircling fence for the sake of the will of heaven. On the contrary, if there are many people who seek for comfort rather than becoming such people, then just as the Israelites who were following Moses left behind heaps of corpses in the wilderness, Satan who drags people to death will invade.
At this time, when we have arrived at the conclusion of history, you must become the sons and daughters of glory who can bring hope to the whole universe by shouting before Satan who caused the grief of 6,000 years, "How can you boast your powers!" You must fight with Satan single-handedly and demonstrate the victorious accomplishment to God. Without doing that, you must never think, "I can just do the bare minimum."
The Life of Faith in Which You Must Be Willing to Face Death
You might not be aware of this, but we stand in a serious situation today. If the path we are walking is true, then we must make a serious resolution. This is because the results will change according to our determination.
When Adam and Eve fell, because God took the responsibility and carried on the salvation, there was some hope. Yet in the last days when the Lord of glory returns, if human beings do not fulfill their responsibility, the dispensation of salvation cannot be continued again. Therefore, if we cannot complete the dispensation of salvation, there will remain bitterness that is greater than that which was left at the time of the fall of Adam and Eve.
We who have come upon this kind of fearful time must understand the heart and the heavenly will of God and speak in defense of God's heart from the position of having been recognized by God. If we do not understand or cannot achieve this, then we must seek a humble position on our own initiative. Jesus was humble even when he was aware of the will of God, so people who do not know the will of God must be humble. If there are such people, then they will surely fall into Satan's abyss of death.
Peter, who followed Jesus 2,000 years ago, as well as the twelve apostles and countless multitudes below him did not understand the heart of Jesus. Therefore, today, you must be determined not to stand in the same kind of position. Ladies and gentlemen, please call out to the Father with that kind of heart. Because the Father is alive, He can give you an answer. If you give all of your heart for the sake of the earth with the same heart as He, then you will be brought to the side of God. Now you must understand that you have the two-fold or three-fold responsibility of alleviating all the bitterness that Jesus left behind on this land and establish yourself, not as a deceased offering, but as a live offering to build paradise on earth.
Yet, why did Jesus die? Jesus did not die because he did not feel any attachment to this world. Jesus loved this earth more than anyone else, and he was full of human kindness. However, because he knew the will of God that only he could bring to pass, he walked the path that differed from other human beings and eventually took the path of the cross. Jesus could not share in the joy when they were rejoicing and could not walk the same path together. He could not divulge his own sorrows. This is how the path that Jesus took was different from that of human beings.
If we want to behold the day of lasting glory and go before Heaven to demand, Please let me stand before all things and creations! then what kind of road should we take? In one word, we must go through the path of death. It is because this is the direct route to heaven. You must also walk this path that Jesus traveled.
Jesus did not walk the road of the cross of Golgotha only for one day. Jesus fixed his heart on the will of God, and for some thirty odd years of his life, he set the standard of the cross and fought on. Moreover, he did not make the determination to face death on the cross in several days. You have to understand that by offering some thirty odd years of his life and in the position of being in charge of the 4,000-year history of the dispensation, Jesus predicted, "If it goes well, then these things will happen. If it does not go well, then that will take place." Meanwhile, there was not even a moment of his life that he was able to escape from the sorrowful heart of Golgotha.
Because there was such a prepared foundation, Jesus was able to place his beloved disciples, people, nation and religion behind him and walk the road that he was determined to go from his birth, the path of the cross on which he offered himself as the sacrifice.
Now you must feel in your life the victorious conditions of Golgotha that Jesus set throughout his life. Otherwise, you will become the same as the disciples who turned away while they were following Jesus, when Jesus was receiving many people's rejections and reproaches and had to bear the cross on his shoulder to take the path of death. Moreover, you must reflect on the fact that although many multitudes had followed Jesus, there was no one who was following him with his life on the line.
The Faith of the Women, Simon of Cyrene, and Jesus
Jesus hoped to hear of someone who could bear the cross in his place, take the beatings on his behalf, and on the road of death of Golgotha suffer hardships and desperately call out in his place, "God! Father!" Although for thirty years he hoped to hear this kind of voice, when his hopes were dashed, how would he have felt?
You have to understand this heart of Jesus. You have to experience this pain of Jesus and be able to sympathize with his pain. Moreover, you must have the mind-set that it is perfectly natural for you to go this path of death on which you will die many thousands of times for the sake of the humanity of the world.
What you have to realize is that when Jesus became fatigued while carrying the cross to Golgotha, there was none among his disciples who, like Simon of Cyrene, shouldered the cross in his place. There was not even one person like this among the chosen people of Israel. Because this foreigner, Simon of Cyrene, participated in the tribulation of Jesus, Christianity could not become the religion of the Israelites. It became a religion of foreigners.
Today, you who have determined to believe in Jesus and go in search of God must be determined to carry out the same actions as Simon of Cyrene, even in your dreams. Although Simon of Cyrene could have made an excuse or rebelled, he silently obeyed and bore the cross in Jesus' place. You have to become this kind of person today.
How must Jesus have felt when he was looking at him? When the apostles with whom he had shared all his joys and sorrows had all disappeared, a foreigner named Simon of Cyrene suffered misery on his behalf. Looking at the situation, Jesus must have felt deeply embarrassed and sorrowful.
If among the twelve apostles there was just one person who had shouldered the cross in his place, then by looking at him, Jesus could have forgotten the hardships of death. He would have overcome his own agony by feeling sympathy for him. Nevertheless, because this did not take place, Jesus felt greater sorrow. You must understand this situation.
In the Christian world of today, there must emerge a denomination in the position of Simon of Cyrene. Yet, which denomination will take on that responsibility? Christians today must realize that Jesus could not become Messiah of the apostles who had followed. He became Messiah of a foreigner, Simon of Cyrene. They must build a church in the position of Simon of Cyrene.
In order for you to become a companion in the situation and painful heart of Jesus, who suffered the tribulations of the cross, and to fulfill the eternal will and dispensational purpose as in the life of Jesus, you must become sons and daughter who can call out "Father" to God, even if you are alone. You have to be there with the Lord of ordeals and the Lord of resurrection who is embarking upon a new beginning.
Jesus, who resurrected three days after he passed away on the cross, was a miserable person. Although for three years he had shared all joys and sorrows with them and, with an earnest heart, had told them he would resurrect three days after his death, his disciples forgot these words and disappeared. When Jesus was resurrected, there was not even one disciple who stood guard next to his tomb. Only enemies, the Roman soldiers, were guarding the place. How could this be! Today there are many instances wherein Christianity is not guarding the tomb of Jesus. Enemies, like the Roman soldiers, are guarding it.
Is there no group on earth who can encircle the Roman soldiers and long for the tomb of Jesus? Even though there were no such people then, among us, the believers, there must emerge many such people.
Who are the ones who could meet the resurrected Jesus? Those who let Jesus die, those who lost Jesus and scattered everywhere to wander according to their will could not meet Jesus.
After his death, who was the person who went in search for Jesus without eating for three days? Who was groping in darkness not knowing where to rest his body? The disciples of Jesus should have become this kind of people more than anyone else. However, the three disciples that Jesus loved the most, Peter, James and John, all returned home. The ones who met Jesus first were the women who searched for Jesus' tomb before dawn. They were Mary Magdalene; Mary, mother of James; and Salome.
They were longing for Jesus, who had passed away as a traitor of the people and the nation. Shedding tears for three days and unable to bear it any longer, they came searching for him. They were the first ones to meet the resurrected Jesus. This shows in what direction and how the believers of the last days must act.
The Mind-Set Which Can Partake in the Glory of the Lord
You must understand that now is the last days when you must go in desperate search for the tomb of Jesus. The women who were desperately searching for the tomb met the resurrected Lord in place of the Israelite people, who should have met the resurrected Lord first. Today when the resurrected Lord comes on the world level, the ones who can meet the Lord first are those who do not sleep and rest in spite of their desire, who shed tears for heaven while wandering through the mountains and hills with an unsettled heart that cannot be expressed.
The apostles did not even mourn over the death of Jesus on the cross. Yet unexpectedly, the three women who were not even apostles mourned over the death of Jesus, shed tears of sympathy and went in search of his tomb. These actions allowed them to meet the Lord of resurrection before the others. In the same way, in the last days, the same phenomena will take place.
If you transcend your life and live a life of anxiety, unrest and lack of sleep for the sake of the lives of your people and humanity, then the Lord of glory who is coming to this world again will surely come after you. You will be entitled to the glory of receiving the Lord when you are not even aware of it. You have to understand that such a time is nearing.
To whom did Jesus appear next? He appeared before the two people who were heading towards Emmaus. They were not apostles. They were in Jerusalem when the three women were testifying to the resurrected Jesus, and they talked about the death of Jesus in torment on their way to Emmaus, because they sympathized with the situation of Jesus. They were able to connect with his sad heart more than anyone else. This is the reason that Jesus appeared before them. The reason Jesus appeared before them was to have them testify before the apostles about the resurrection of Jesus.
If you want to usher in the new day of glory, the new ideal garden on the world level, then you must have a sincere concern for the distressed heart of Jesus, the mournful life of Jesus. With a painful heart, you must struggle to go toward heaven. Yet without carrying these things out, without having deep thoughts, are there any who wish for the glory of the Lord? If there are, then that person is none other than the antichrist and the false prophet.
Who would have known that the apostles would stand in the position of the antichrist before Jesus? Who would have known that the chosen Israelite people and Judaism would become the antichrist? We must be concerned about this in the last days, too. You must reflect on yourself whether you stand in the position of the antichrist. This is not the time to reproach others or interfere with the affairs of others. The problem lies with you yourselves. The denominations are not the problem. You must worry about the fact that you might become Satan in the last days. Until now, people who found problems in others have all lost themselves in the course of history.
In the new ideal Garden of Eden, do you want to greet the glorious resurrection the whole universe desires? You must then feel the heart of Jesus and, while shedding tears, share the responsibility. Only this kind of people can receive the glorious resurrection.
Now is the time when the last days are approaching. People who have reached a certain realm of the spirit feel uneasy. They do not feel happy even when they have received grace. They do not feel satisfied even when they have experienced the miracle of the fire. Therefore, people want to run away from the churches. No matter how many fences are put around the churches, they cannot keep people from leaving. This is a difficult time when you must find yourself, in spite of these kinds of circumstances.
When there emerge the true sons and daughters who can represent the church, the people, the world and the cosmos, the maneuverings of Satan who is trying to cause division will all be undermined. You must become the victors in the historical course with these qualifications. You must take responsibility even for the sins of criminals and act in place of Jesus when he was praying alone in the garden of Gethsemane. If you can do this, then even if the path that you travel is the path of death, as long as you keep to it, you can be resurrected.
However, those who dodge hardships and choose the comfortable path for their own benefit, then even if they believe that the road they are walking is the path of resurrection, eventually they will arrive at death. You have to keep this in mind.
The Life of the Living Sacrifice Offered to God
You can usher in the glorious day of resurrection for which God has been hoping for 6,000 years and enjoy eternal happiness only when you set the victorious condition of offering yourself to God, not as dead sacrifice, but as a living sacrifice to fulfill the will of God.
Moreover, when you are offered as the living sacrifice before God, who has been exerting Himself for 6,000 years, your spirit and physical selves will be resurrected. When this takes place, you can accomplish the beautiful task of bringing to a conclusion the ordeals and sorrows of God, who has felt bitterness toward Satan for 6,000 years. You can boast before all things of the universe or before Satan or before the many millions of believers or the heavenly soldiers and angels. You can enter the eternal ideal garden to live in glory for eternity. I hope that you cherish this in your heart.
